Out with the Old, In with the New

For about the last ten years, most businesses have managed email in one of two main ways:

In-House Email Hosting
By purchasing server software, client software, server hardware, and an IT staff to manage it, a business can host their own email in-house.

Bundled Hosting
Other businesses use the email service that is bundled with another service, such as their domain registration. GoDaddy, for example, offers website hosting and email hosting when you sign up for their domain registration services.

But the trend is beginning to turn, as businesses are starting to move toward a new way:

Cloud Hosting
When a business chooses Rackspace Email & Apps or Google Apps to host their email, they are putting their email “in the cloud.” With cloud hosting, your data is stored online and backed up in multiple locations, and there is no server software for you to install and upgrade. You purchase the specific services you need, and you only pay for what you use.

For businesses that are currently hosting their own email in-house, there are numerous benefits of moving into the cloud. We’ve detailed them on our Top 10 Reasons page[1]. And our Case Studies[2] page highlights the stories of our many customers who have transitioned away from an in-house system and into the cloud, with much relief.

But we’re also seeing companies moving away from bundled services—and they’re moving away in droves. The bottom line is that, even though bundled services have a few of the same benefits of being in the cloud, the quality of their email service is often very poor. Frequent outages, terrible support, and limited features are some common complaints.

We believe in the cloud. We believe it helps businesses save money and work smarter. And since it’s sometimes intimidating for businesses to make the transition away from the “old way of doing things,” we’re putting resources into making it easier for businesses to make the transition. That’s why we released our new Migration App[3], so businesses can migrate mailboxes into the cloud with ease.